Everything Changes
by Eliss Elusive
Summary: Imagine a world where Percy's not the subject of the Great Prophecy - in fact, he's a son of Athena. Thalia was never turned into a tree, but Luke seems to be MIA. Grover's actually kind of cool, and Annabeth's a daughter of Poseidon. An AU in which things are dramatically flipped - taking the place of The Lightning Thief.
1. Prologue

_Note: This idea was given to me by a friend of a friend of a friend. I'm told she once had a story with this plot posted, so if it reminds you of something, that's why. Enjoy, lovelies. _

**Everything Changes**  
**Prologue**  
**The Day of the Prophecy**

Thalia wasn't the kind of girl who'd wanted her 16th birthday to be a big deal. Anyone who'd ever met her could vouch for the fact that she'd never watched a single episode of _My Super Sweet 16 _to gain ideas for a party, nor had she once whined about wanting a brand new car to rock her driver's test with.

Unfortunately, the people at Camp Half-Blood had other intentions.

Thalia could remember the argument she'd had with Silena the week before her birthday. "Please let me throw you a party," the daughter of Aphrodite had begged. "You only turn sixteen once. Don't you want to remember it?"

"Silena, you only turn every age once. Sixteen is no reason to celebrate," Thalia had retorted with her patented eye roll.

"But it's your _sixteenth birthday_," Silena emphasized, fixing the other girl with a patronizing look.

"Yes, and I know this is difficult for you to understand, so let me say it slowly – I. Don't. Want. A. Party," Thalia said slowly, enunciating every word in the futile hope that it would get through to her. "I don't even want to acknowledge that it's my birthday."

Silena had nodded, and Thalia had assumed that was the end of that. She underestimated just how much the daughter of Aphrodite's brain had been poisoned by mass quantities of hairspray.

What Silena didn't understand was that for a girl like Thalia, a trip to the dentist's office was more appealing than a party – especially a party for her. Even a root canal without any Novocain was infinitely better than a 16th birthday party.

Which was why she was seriously considering Silena – among several other very violent things that are probably best left unmentioned – when she walked into the dining pavilion on the morning of her sixteenth birthday.

Balloons. Streamers. A giant pink banner that read _'Happy Birthday Thalia!' _In other words, it resembled one of her worst nightmares with alarming accuracy. And there, sitting next to a huge cake, was Silena with a big stupid smile on her face. Thalia felt an overwhelming urge to knock out a few of those pearly whites.

"Happy sweet sixteen, Thalia!" Silena said as she stood up. After smoothing out the nonexistent wrinkles in her short skirt, she just stood there like she was expecting to be hugged or something. Once she realized this wasn't happening, she hustled over to Thalia as fast as her six-inch stilettos would allow.

Dropping her voice to a whisper, Silena quietly said, "Don't worry. I knew you were trying to be modest when we talked. Everyone knows it's proper etiquette to pretend you don't want a party."

Thalia wasn't sure if this was one of the stupid rules Aphrodite's children were infamous for making up or if there was some truth to it. Either way, Thalia was far from happy. "Silena, did it ever occur to you that I was serious when I said I didn't want a party?" she asked, her voice dripping with venom.

Silena actually laughed. "Thalia, you can drop the act now."

By that point, Thalia was convinced that Silena's brain was more than a little rotten by all the hairspray she'd used. "I even got Percy to help. At first he thought that you wouldn't want a party, but then I explained it all to him," Silena continued.

Percy Jackson – the only son of Athena here at Camp Half-Blood who didn't have piercing gray eyes, and coincidentally, the only one in his cabin that Thalia could stand. She even considered him a friend, having known him since he was a little kid.

That didn't stop Thalia from directing a glare in the direction of the Athena table. Percy shrugged helplessly and mouthed, _"Sorry! She didn't give me a choice." _It hardly pacified Thalia. He should have known better, and he'd hear it from her later.

Silena was oblivious to the growing tension. "Well now we can eat cake and-"

Smoke flooded the pavilion, creating an instant fog. A few people exchanged nervous glances. Silena immediately went quiet – if the smoke didn't tip Thalia off that something was wrong, that definitely did.

"Um…Percy, I don't remember us setting up a smoke machine," Silena said nervously as she inched closer to Thalia.

"That's because we didn't," Percy said simply. That was part of the reason Thalia liked Percy. Even though he had the brains of any other Athena kid, he had a plain and simple way of putting things. Come to think of it, he wasn't like the other Athena kids in a lot of ways.

Silena gulped nervously and looked to Chiron at the head table, who was looking at the scene with indifference. He offered her a halfhearted shrug. Thalia was getting the vibe that this part of the party hadn't been planned, especially when a man's form emerged from the smoke.

The man had pale blonde hair that brushed his jade green eyes, like it'd been needing a trim for quite some time. His lips were curved into a frown that looked like a regular visitor on his face. Combined with his pale skin, Thalia decided he was probably one of those sulky guys who didn't get out much. Yet his most prominent feature was the aura of power he seemed to give off.

"Phoebus Apollo," Mr. D's voice rang out loud and clear through the dead silence. "What brings you to Camp Half-Blood?"

Apollo was the first god Thalia had ever met – not including Mr. D. She'd always imagined the god of music and poetry as a more lively person, and the practically albino skin was a blatant contradiction to his title as the god of the sun.

"Oh, those angsty tortured poet types are always so cute," Silena whispered in Thalia's ear.

"What do you expect, brother?" His voice sounded detached and melancholy, yet the way it carried effortlessly gave away his divine nature. "I come with a prophecy so important that it must be me who reveals it."

There was a mummy in the attic who was the usual herald of prophecies. Thalia had never seen her, but Luke had before…well, it was best not to go there.

Apollo cleared his throat dramatically as he looked around at the campers, his gaze slowly focusing on me. His eyes had this way of seeing through someone, like he was looking directly at their soul. It creeped Thalia out. "Thalia Grace, daughter of Zeus, is it true that you are sixteen today?"

It took a nudge from Silena to help Thalia find her voice. "Uh, yeah. That's right."

The god turned, addressing the camp as a whole. "Here stands the daughter of a broken oath. The prophecy I come to deliver is not about her, but for the next child of the forsaken oath who reaches her age."

Thalia didn't like being referred to as the daughter of a broken oath. She tried not to think about the rules that had been disregarded by her father – the reason she shouldn't be alive.

"The next child of the Big Three to turn sixteen will make a decision that will determine the future of Olympus. The hero is going to die, and there's going to be some cursed knife involved," Apollo said dramatically. "Oh, and lots of sleep," he added as an afterthought.

"Apollo," Mr. D said after it became clear that no else was going to speak up. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't prophecies supposed to be vague and nondescript?"

The god shrugged. "There's a reason they're usually given to my oracle. I forgot what the exact wording was. It's probably for the best – it's depressing watching you all mope about how unclear the prophecy is."

"But isn't the exact wording important?" Mr. D pressed, looking to Chiron for support. The centaur was staring at his goblet intensely, demanding something a bit stronger than the beverages approved for campers, no doubt. It was no secret that the famous trainer of heroes was less than satisfied with his job.

Apollo's frown deepened. "Your problem – not mine." And with that, the god disappeared in a poof of smoke. The first real god Thalia met definitely hadn't made a great first impression.

Then it sank in. One of the other Big Three gods was going to violate his oath. There was going to be another kid like her, and they were going to decide the fate of Olympus.

But at least one good thing came out of it. With a beaming smile, Thalia said, "Well, I guess this means we'll just have to cancel my birthday celebration!"

_Random question for my lovely reviewers - If you read my description, you know Luke's out of the picture. Any guesses on who our villain will be?_


	2. Chapter One

**Chapter One  
****The Daughter of Poseidon**

Annabeth Chase had never had what she considered a bad life, but on the other hand it wasn't exactly what one could classify as good_. _ Maybe it was because whenever something good happened, something bad was always right behind it.

Case in point: her mom had gotten married, bagging herself a husband and Annabeth a father figure. The bad part had come a few years later, once her mom and step-dad had two kids of their own. It was like they were finally starting a family, and Annabeth was just the awkward third wheel.

Another example – Annabeth and her mom had used to live in a trashy part of New York until her step-dad got a huge promotion. Their family was able to move to a nicer neighborhood and even afford a house big enough for their growing family. The bad part arrived just a few months ago. Her name was Daloris Rain – the freakiest neighbor imaginable.

Most people ignored their neighbors except on the rare occasion when they were both getting their mail at the same time or felt like being patriotic together and setting off fireworks on the fourth of July in their backyard. Apparently no one had told Daloris that. She was always calling to ask Annabeth if she would feed her hamster while she was gone, or if Annabeth wanted to make her cookies.

In Annabeth's mind, she was the freakiest thing since Marilyn Manson. And that was before you factored in the way she looked. There was hair everywhere. _Everywhere_. Annabeth wished she didn't know that, but unfortunately Daloris liked to wear her bikini while working out in the garden, and Annabeth's mom got mad when she closed the shades.

But that was enough about Daloris Rain for now.

Before getting into things, there's one more person important enough to mention: Annabeth's dad – the real one. She found it sad that she knew less about him than her creepy neighbor, but she'd never met him. Her mom got sad when asked about him, so Annabeth did her best not to pry. In 12 years, she'd learned that she looked absolutely nothing like him, with her gray eyes and blonde hair.

That wasn't a whole lot to go off of.

She didn't even know his name. She didn't even know if her mom knew his name. Annabeth always assumed they'd had a relationship prior to her conception, but she wasn't ruling out a one-night stand.

On the bright side, Annabeth supposed never having met him made it easier to deal with not having him around, but there was always the curious part of her wondering where he was, what he was like, and if he even knew she existed.

Annabeth didn't have much of an interesting childhood. There were a few broken bones, one or two fistfights during recess, and a couple close calls when she'd been out with her mom and almost wandered off with a stranger. When her mom had asked her what had possessed her to walk off with the tall man, Annabeth had told her the man only had one eye and she wanted to find out why.

So maybe her childhood was kind of interesting, but it was nothing compared to what started happening shortly after she turned twelve, right around the time Daloris Rain moved in.

To start with, she had a new history teacher – right in the middle of the school year. Students were told the old one had a nervous breakdown or something and needed some time off. The new guy's name was Mr. Davis or Mr. Donald – even he seemed to not know when asked, so students settled on calling him Mr. D. If asked to describe him briefly, most students would say he was an eccentric guy with a pot belly and an unusual liking for garish Hawaiian shirts.

Another unusual quirk to him was that he seemed to love Greek mythology, especially anything that related to Dionysus. Annabeth's class had spent at least a few months learning about the Greeks and their religious customs – and their class was supposed to be _American_ history. Even weirder was the fact that he seemed to expect Annabeth to know everything perfectly.

At least Annabeth's best friend was there to help her out. Clarisse had transferred at the beginning of the year. She was hot-headed and bellicose towards most people, but she was loyal and even slightly protective towards Annabeth. That's why Annabeth had never told her about Daloris. If Clarisse knew, she'd probably want to camp out in the Chase's backyard every night to make sure Annabeth was safe.

That was Annabeth Chase's life in a nutshell. It wasn't anything special, but she told herself things could always be worse.

If only she knew how much worse they were going to get in just a few days.

* * *

"Hey, Annabeth!" Clarisse shouted, chasing her best friend down the hall. "Wait up!"

Annabeth sighed and reluctantly came to a halt. Daloris had been up late last night working out (with all the lights on) to one of those creepy exercise videos. Between the lights, pounding volume, and her little brother waking up every few hours, Annabeth had gotten about twenty minutes of sleep tops. It was bound to be a terrible day.

"You finish your English paper?" Clarisse asked once she caught up to Annabeth. "I was up so late finishing it."

Annabeth stared at her best friend blankly until she realized what she was talking about. "Yeah…no," she said slowly, a feeling of dread creeping into her stomach. A vague memory of Mrs. Prause talking about a ten-page paper to be done independent of class time was floating to the top of her mind. She'd completely forgotten until now.

"Mrs. Prause is gonna kill you," Clarisse said. "This is counting for at least half our grade." Obviously, Annabeth knew that, and her best friend's words weren't making her feel any better. Sometimes empathy wasn't one of Clarisse's shining qualities.

Annabeth felt like puking. She was going to fail English, and then her mom would give her one of those long looks that made her feel worse than a three-hour lecture followed by a shouting match, and then she'd be left to reflect on how she'd never get a job after high school and be lucky to find a box to live in one day.

"I'm going home," she mumbled before sprinting towards the office.

Clarisse didn't follow her. Honestly, she wasn't that bad of a friend. She just sometimes wasn't the greatest at acting sympathetic. She probably just expected Annabeth to puke, lie down long enough to get out of English, and then join her again for math.

Needless to say, that wasn't going to happen.

Not feeling good, Annabelle?" the office lady asked her. Annabeth gritted her teeth and didn't bother correcting her. Her mother had thought it would be cute to combine the names of her grandma and great-grandma. Just adorable.

Annabeth nodded. "My brother had the flu last week. Maybe I got it." She was good at making up convincing lies.

Livia – at least, that was Annabeth thought her name was – clucked in sympathy. "You want to go lie down? Maybe you'll feel better after a nap."

Not unless her English paper magically wrote itself, but she couldn't outright say that. "I think I should just go home. Really, it's probably one of those 24 hour things. I'll be good as new tomorrow."

"You're not trying to get out of something, are you?" Livia, or maybe Caludia, raised an eyebrow suspiciously. Annabeth remembered that she had a daughter in her class – she probably knew all about the huge English project.

"Of course not. Like, why put things off? That English paper is still going to be due tomorrow when I come back," Annabeth blabbered. Sometimes lying under pressure wasn't her strength.

"Annabelle, I think you better go back to…"

Whatever Claudia/Livia said next was lost over the sound of blood rushing through Annabeth's ears. She put a hand to my mouth, but it was too late. With little warning, she bent over and puked all over the office's shaggy green carpeting.

Annabeth grabbed a tissue out of the box on the counter and wiped her face. She wanted to go rinse her mouth out, but she seemed to be frozen in place.

Mr. D, the aforementioned history teacher, chose that moment to walk into the office. Annabeth decided this was rapidly climbing into the ten most embarrassing moments of her life.

He wrinkled his pug nose. "I think someone needs to take Ms. Chase home."

Claudia/Livia nodded in agreement. "I'll call her mom and ask her to come pick her up." She was looking a little green herself. Flipping through one of the huge books on her desk, her eyes kept looking back up at Annabeth every few seconds. The janitors were probably going to end up with one more mess to clean up with – she looked less than inclined to do it herself.

"That really won't be necessary, Alicia," Mr. D said, his voice low. "I'll be taking her home."

"But that's against school policy, and I have her mom's number right here, and…" Claudia/Livia/Alicia seemed confused. Mr. D gave her a firm look. "Oh, of course. What was I thinking? Go ahead and take her home. I hope you feel better, Annabelle."

Don't get in the car with strangers. It was one of the first rules her mom had taught her, right along with not putting her hand on a hot stove or cutting her own bangs. Of course, Annabeth hadn't listened and learned those lessons the hard way.

She wasn't sure how, but a few minutes later she ended up sitting next to Mr. D in his beat-up car, giving him directions to her house.

"I've been meaning to talk to you for a while, Annabeth," he started, then stopped. "It's…well…you haven't…has your…?

Annabeth wasn't catching what he was throwing. "Um, you needed to take a left back there, Mr. D," she said.

He sighed in irritation. "I hoped things would work out differently, but here you are."

"It's okay. You can just take a left down the next road and backtrack," Annabeth tried to explain, though she had a feeling Mr. D wasn't talking about directions.

"Annabeth, I think I just need to say it. You're a daughter of-"

"Watch out!" she screamed as something ran out into the road.

Mr. D slammed on the breaks, narrowly avoiding hitting…

Daloris?

"Oh my God, that's my neighbor!" Annabeth shrieked as she ran out of the car. "You almost hit her!" Lack of sleep was clouding her judgment. She was hysterical when she should have been relieved – no matter how terrible it was that Daloris had almost been killed. Anyone would understand if they had Daloris for a neighbor.

Mr. D was behind her faster than she would have thought that pot belly of his would allow. "Annabeth, get back in the car," he said, using the same voice on her as he had with the office lady. The only difference was that Annabeth was far less receptive to it.

Daloris was crumpled up on the ground. Mr. D hadn't hit her, or had he? "You killed her! She's dead! I'm going to have to go to juvie!" Annabeth cried, completely irrational.

He murmured something under his breath. Annabeth wasn't sure, but it sounded like he'd said, _"If only."_

"Annabeth, get in the car," Mr. D said again. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a shriveled vine. Annabeth thought he should be worrying less about botany and more about CPR. _Stayin' alive, stayin' alive…_

Mr. D sighed when he saw she wasn't going anywhere. He reached into the pocket of his Hawaiian shirt and pulled out what resembled a knife. A closer look revealed that it was really a giant tiger tooth (if the fur around the handle was any indication), but it also looked sharp enough to cut through anything. "I don't have any celestial bronze, but take this. It won't kill her, but it will make her mad as Hades."

Hades? Annabeth tried to place the name. He was the god from…somewhere…of something. She was sure she'd slept through class that day. Whatever Mr. D meant, she'd ended up with a tiger fang knife in her hand. Now when the police showed up, they'd put her in a nice comfy room with rubber walls.

Daloris groaned and shuddered. Annabeth's heart leapt – her neighbor wasn't dead! Mr. D tensed and rubbed the little vine between his fingers.

That was when things started to go above and beyond weird. Annabeth heard the sound of fabric ripping, and four giant black pipe cleaners emerged out of Daloris' back. _Giant. Hairy. Pipe cleaners._

Annabeth would have loved to turn and run, but she found herself frozen in place. "Καταραμένοι γυναίκα αράχνη," Mr. D hissed. Spider? Annabeth was too scared to realize that she'd just understood some language that sounded like baby talk.

Daloris slowly rose. Remember how hairy she was? If it was possible, she had ten times more hair now. It was hard for Annabeth to look at her, and not just because she looked so beastly. Every time she tried to focus, it seemed like her vision got blurry, and then she found herself looking somewhere else.

"Annabeth," Mr. D shouted to her. "It's the Mist! You have to look at her, no matter how hard it is."

Annabeth thought that was the understatement of the year. She closed her eyes and turned her head to where she figured Daloris was. Before she could reason herself out of it, she opened her eyes.

There were some things you could never unsee, no matter how much you wished you could. For Annabeth, this was one of those things. Those big hairy pipe cleaners were really legs. Daloris had eight hairy legs and pincers, just like a…_spider_.

Her neighbor was a giant spider woman. Besides the vaguely humanoid torso, she was a huge mutant spider. Annabeth's neighbor – a spider.

"That's right, Annabeth. They used to call me Arachne. I was beautiful and talented, the finest weave in all of Greece," Daloris said, her voice sounding worse than nails on a chalkboard. "But I was foolish and angered Athena, just as you have. This was the price I paid."

Annabeth had no idea who Athena was, let alone how she'd managed to get on her bad side. She looked over at Mr. D, hoping to see him holding one of those little hand-held cameras and laughing at her. All these names were sounding vaguely Greek to her – maybe this was his crazy idea of a pop quiz.

Instead, Mr. D looked even more worried than he had just a few seconds ago. "They know…she knows…" he muttered to himself. Somehow Annabeth knew he was talking about this Athena lady.

"Oh, Annabeth. You were always such a delightful girl. I really do regret having to kill you," Daloris said with relish. "However, if it's the price Athena's named to get my old form back…" She shrugged – three sets of legs, all moving up and down at once.

In Annabeth's mind, she was running away as fast as she could. In real life, she was standing there like an idiot with her mouth wide open. "You…pretty…Greek… crazy…spiders…" she babbled until it hit her. This was all some crazy dream, and she was going to wake up any second.

"Annabeth…" Mr. D said nervously. "Don't get any closer to her. She may not look dangerous, but-"

"That's right, Annabeth. I'll make this quick. You won't feel a thing," Daloris promised, coaking her closer. This was just a dream, Annabeth kept repeating to herself. All she had to do was die and she'd wake up perfectly fine.

Annabeth was only a few feet away from Daloris when one of her giant pipe cleaner arms lunged out at her. Annabeth screamed and threw up an arm to protect her face. A searing pain cut through her forearm – weren't dreams not supposed to hurt?

"The knife!" Mr. D shouted. Annabeth waved it blindly, in too much pain to focus.

Daloris shrieked. By sheer luck, Annabeth had sliced off the tip of one of her arms. Daloris sure did look mad as Hades. "If only I'd thought to bring celestial bronze," Mr. D muttered.

"You little wench!" Daloris shouted. Annabeth didn't know what a wench was, nor did she want to find out. What she did want to know was why her arm felt like it was going to fall off, and why she hadn't woken up yet.

Mr. D shook his head. "This needs to end," he said. The little vine he'd been holding grew into a giant thorny whip. He aimed it at Daloris, and it shot out, grabbing on to her in the blink of an eye. More vines sprouted from the whip, wrapping Daloris until she was completely entangled. She screamed and cursed in the same language Mr. D had spoken before.

Mr. D tightened his grip on the handle of his vine whip, and the entire plant followed his lead. With one last ear-splitting shriek, Daloris became…powder. Annabeth's neighbor went from being a hairy human to a spider to a Pixy Stick in less than ten minutes.

It was more than she could take. Everything went black.

* * *

Annabeth woke up in her room to the sound of birds chirping and her brothers screaming. Things were definitely back to normal.

"Annabeth, are you awake?" her mom shouted. "Mrs. Peters wants to know if you can babysit her girls."

Mrs. Peters?

Annabeth stumbled out of bed and down the stairs, where her mom was simultaneously cooking breakfast and soothing her fussy brother.

"Why are you still in your clothes from yesterday?" Her mom wrinkled her nose. "Never mind. Can you babysit? Mrs. Peters really needs you."

Annabeth looked down. Same jeans and hoodie she'd been wearing…in her dream. "Um, Mom? Who's Mrs. Peters?" she asked.

Her mom gave her a look that really could kill. "Really, Annabeth. Our neighbor? She's only been living here since we moved in. Now hurry up. I told her you would."

"What about Daloris?"

"I have no clue who you're talking about, Annabeth. Go. Now. Babysit." She was using her case-closed voice. Annabeth guessed she'd have to argue later.

Rolling her eyes, she rushed out the door. It occurred to Annabeth that she might be having a post-dream. Was that even possible? Then again, were there rules governing what could and couldn't happen in dreams?

Before she was even to the next house, this Mrs. Peters lady came running out the door. She didn't look a thing like Daloris. "Oh, thank goodness. Annabeth, you're a lifesaver. Brooke and Hilary are in the living room. I should be back by four. Thank you again!"

And just like that, she was gone, and Annabeth was left with two kids she supposedly knew.

Annabeth rubbed her arm, which had been a constant pain since she woke up. Her fingers froze when she felt a slightly raised line.

A scar, pink and fading, right where Daloris had got her.

Some dream?

_Notes – I made an outline for this story, lovelies. It's 14 chapters – including prologue and epilogue. This chapter's question for reviewers: if Mr. D and Chiron seem to have changed roles, what do you expect Chiron to be like in future chapters?_


	3. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two  
****An Impromptu Journey**

Annabeth's family seemed to have no memory whatsoever of Daloris Rain. They gave her blank looks whenever she mentioned their creepy neighbor, and soon Annabeth realized this wasn't their idea of an elaborate joke. They really didn't remember.

Clarisse didn't know about Annabeth's former neighbor, which meant the next person to ask was Mr. D. So she stayed after class one day, slowly walking up to his desk after everyone had left. "Mr. D?" she asked nervously.

"Hmm?" Mr. D asked absently without looking up from the pile of papers he was grading. He took a drink from his mug, which seemed to be containing something a bit stronger than coffee judging by the smell.

"Do you remember when you drove me home a few weeks ago?" Annabeth asked, rubbing the faint line on her arm – the mark Daloris had left when she'd clawed her.

Mr. D looked up at her with bloodshot eyes. "Teachers aren't allowed to drive students home, Miss Chase," he said flatly. "Only parents can."

"But you did, and then you almost hit my neighbor on the way home! But she wasn't really a person, because she turned into a giant spider and you had to-" Annabeth began to protest.

"If you expect me to write you a pass for your next class, you're sadly mistaken, Miss Chase. I suggest you hurry there instead of wasting your time telling me about this foolish nonsense," Mr. D said, taking another long drink out of his mug.

"But you…I…she was…" Annabeth stammered, trying to find something that would make him believe her.

"I'm very busy, Miss Chase. I suggest you spend less time making up stories and more time working on your homework," Mr. D said, pulling a paper out of his stack. "As long as you're here, you might as well take this." He handed Annabeth the last test they'd taken. "Your parents need to sign it so they know you're failing my class."

It would have been easier to completely forget about Daloris Rain – no one else remembered her, even when Annabeth tried catching people off guard to get them to accidentally say something about Daloris. She'd even tried asking some of the other neighbors. It was like they didn't hear her.

But Annabeth wouldn't forget. The mark on her arm was a reminder that something really had happened.

The school year was winding down. Annabeth was managing passing grades in most of her classes. The only grade she still had to bring up was history, and she wasn't sure how she was going to do it. No matter how hard she tried, the myths of the ancient Greeks wouldn't stay in her head.

Mr. D kept pressuring her to do better. He made it sound like it was life or death that Annabeth knew who Zeus was, as well as the names of all his children and mortal lovers. Honestly, Annabeth wondered how that even remotely tied into American history, but she was hardly in a position to question him.

There was one week of school left, and Annabeth was running out of options. When the final bell rang, she decided to stay behind and beg Mr. D for an extra credit assignment. As she packed her bag, she waited for Clarisse to come and say bye, but her best friend was nowhere to be found.

Before Annabeth walked into Mr. D's room, she heard him talking to someone. "I know that, but my hands are tied. I've already done too much – Zeus isn't happy that I stepped in when Arachne attacked her."

Arachne – the woman Daloris had claimed to be. Annabeth inched closer to the door, looking down the long hall for anyone that could catch her eavesdropping.

"But she would have died if you hadn't stepped in!" Annabeth knew that voice – Clarisse.

"Tensions are high right now, Clarisse. Have you talked to her about this summer?"

"No. She's so stressed about school right now that I don't think she'll be willing to listen to me."

A janitor began mopping the hallway. Annabeth pretended to be reading her history book, leaning against the wall so she could hear better.

"I don't know if it will be safe for her there," Mr. D said.

"It's not safe for her here, either. Grover wouldn't even take this job – he said her smell was strong enough to attract every monster in the state of New York."

Annabeth tried to discreetly sniff herself. She didn't think she smelled all that bad.

Annabeth hadn't noticed the janitor slowly creeping closer, nor had she noticed the way he wore his hat low enough to cover his eyes. At the very least, she should have noticed the way he was nearly seven feet tall, but it was easy to overlook something like that if you weren't looking for danger.

"I don't want her to be thrown into her father's mess. Ever since-"

Annabeth didn't hear whatever Mr. D said next, because right at that moment the janitor grabbed her from behind. He slung her over his shoulder like she weighed nothing and began running down the hall.

"Put me down!" Annabeth screamed, beating on the man's back. "Clarisse, help!"

Despite being jostled around as the man ran, Annabeth could see her friend run out of the history room and take off in the direction of Annabeth's screams. However, there was no way she would be able to catch up to them.

Clarisse reached into her pocket and pulled out a pencil, which quickly grew in length until it resembled a spear. The whole thing crackled with energy. With a grunt, Clarisse threw it at the man who was running off with Annabeth.

It impaled the man in the leg, causing him to fall face first. Annabeth was just barely able to twist her way out of his grip and avoid being crushed underneath him. Once she wasn't being carried away, she looked at her best friend with shock. "Did you just throw a spear at a janitor?"

"He's not a janitor. Look at his eye, Annabeth," Clarisse said, pulling a knife out of nowhere.

The man was already getting up, seeming unfazed by the fact that he'd just been stabbed. Annabeth looked up and found that it was the same as when she'd watched her neighbor transform into a spider – it was hard to focus on his face.

When she was able to, Annabeth realized that instead of two eyes, he only had one large one in the middle of his forehead.

"What is that?" Annabeth asked.

"Cyclops," Clarisse answered, gritting her teeth. "A young one, though."

The Cyclops charged at Clarisse. She ducked just in time, swiping her dagger across his arm.

The Cyclops howled in pain and swung his wounded arm like a club, knocking Clarisse right in the chest and slamming her into the wall. A teacher ran out of her room and screamed before whipping out her cell phone. "Yes, 911 I have an emergency at Hill Crest School…" Annabeth heard her say.

"Annabeth, watch out!" Clarisse shouted, trying to get to her feet. Her right arm hung limply at her side, and her left leg seemed to not want to support her weight.

Instinct took over before Annabeth could process what Clarisse had said. She jumped back right as the Cyclops brought his fists down on the ground with devastating force – right where she'd been standing a few seconds ago.

They began a deadly game of cat and mouse; Annabeth was just barely able to avoid being clobbered. The wounds Clarisse had dealt the monster seemed minor at best – in reality, they were probably no more bothersome than paper cuts.

The sound of sirens rang through the hallway. Outside, Annabeth could see police cars pull up in the school's parking lot. She found this to be a good thing, but Clarisse looked absolutely terrified. "Annabeth, you need to go now!" she said. "Find Mr. D's car. There are directions in the glove box. Follow them and tell everyone that we sent-"

"I'm not leaving without you!" Annabeth said, narrowly avoiding a kick from the Cyclops.

"I'll only slow you down," Clarisse insisted.

"I don't care," Annabeth said, running to her friend and wrapping an arm around her so she could walk. She wasn't sure how they were going to outrun the monster behind them, but she wasn't going to leave her best friend behind.

Impulsively, Annabeth grabbed the knife off the floor where Clarisse had dropped it. She threw it back at the Cyclops, nailing him right in the center of his eye. Just like Daloris had, he evaporated into a pile of dust.

Annabeth didn't realize she was gawking at the spot where the monster had been until Clarisse tugged on her arm. "C'mon, Annabeth," she insisted. "He's not going to stay dead forever."

"Wait – what?" Annabeth asked as she and Clarisse moved as fast as they could towards the teachers' parking lot.

"I'll explain later, but right now we need to get out of here," Clarisse said.

"But the police are here!"

"That's the problem," Clarisse said, slightly irritated. "That teacher didn't see what we did, Annabeth. She probably saw a couple of students attacking a janitor. I promise I'll explain it all, but right now we need to get out of here."

The police were at the front entrance, so Annabeth and Clarisse were able to sneak into their teacher's car without any trouble. "What about Mr. D?" Annabeth asked as Clarisse started the car and attempted to drive with only one good arm.

"He'll have a lot of covering up to do, I'd imagine," Clarisse said, pulling out of the school's parking lot and heading for the highway.

"Where are we going?"

"Somewhere far away." Clarisse shook her head. "Look, I'm not good at explaining it. Percy and Thalia will do that when we get there."

"Was that really a Cyclops?"

"No, Morgan Freeman. He's trying a new approach to get people to care about global warming. Gods, of course it was a Cyclops, Annabeth," Clarisse said, her bad temper coming through. "I'm sorry – I'm just a little stressed right now," she said, laying on her horn as someone cut her off.

"How long of a drive is it?"

"A few hours."

Annabeth groaned. "What about my mom? What is she gonna think?"

"She'll understand. She's known this is coming for a long time."

"That what is coming?"

"It's amazing that you've made it this long without getting into bigger trouble, Annabeth. Most of us don't get past ten before-"

"Who's us?" Annabeth demanded. She was starting to understand that she wasn't going to get anything out of Clarisse.

"Why don't you try to get some sleep? I bet you're exhausted."

Reluctantly, Annabeth agreed and rested her head against the cool glass of the window. She closed her eyes for what felt like a few minutes, but when she opened them it was already dark, and Clarisse had the windshield wipers going full force to combat the rain.

"I missed our turn once already," Clarisse said. Her teeth were gritted, and a line of sweat was forming along her temples. Annabeth wondered how much pain she had to be in.

"Where are we?"

"Long Island."

Clarisse slammed on the brakes. "Here it is," she said, turning down a side road that had a sign clearly advertising that it was a dead end.

Through the pouring rain, Annabeth could just make out a large farmhouse and several cabins farther back. "What is this place?" she asked.

"Camp Half-Blood."

_Notes: Reviews are love, chicadees. They're also inspiration. I'll continue to ask questions, even though not many people answer them. Let's see…do you like the length of these chapters, or would you like to see them shorter/longer?_


	4. Chapter Three

**Chapter Three  
****Camp Half-Blood**

Clarisse and Annabeth slowly made their way to the large farmhouse. A dark-haired girl was waiting for them by the door; once she saw them, she ran forward and helped support Clarisse. "Mr. D said you'd be coming," she said.

Once they were in the nice warm house, the girl took Clarisse further back while Annabeth was left to awkwardly stand in the doorway. "You can come in if you want," a boy said. He was sitting at a big table with a thermos of hot chocolate in front of him.

Annabeth sat across from him, suddenly not sure what to say. The boy made no move to introduce himself – instead, he just stared at Annabeth with his piercing sea green eyes.

The other girl came back in and took the seat next to the boy. "She's got broken bones – nothing a bit of ambrosia won't fix. What about her?" she asked, jerking her head towards Annabeth.

"She's pale and sweating. I'd bet she feels sick right now – classic case of shock. What we need to is-" the boy started to say, sounding like he was reciting a medical textbook.

"Gods, Percy. Just give her ambrosia."

The boy, Percy, shook his head and poured her a cup of hot chocolate. "I'm Percy; this is Thalia," he said, handing her the mug. Annabeth studied it before taking a drink; the paint was chipped, but she could just make out the words _Party Ponies Reunion 1845. _

"I'm Annabeth," she said before taking a drink. Instead of hot chocolate, the taste of pumpkin bread flooded her mouth. Even though it was one of the best things she'd ever tasted, she couldn't help but spit it right back out in surprise. "What is this?" she demanded.

Percy looked at her like she was stupid. "Ambrosia."

"And it's meant to taste like that?"

Thalia stood up and reached into a cupboard. She tossed Annabeth a bright orange shirt and a pair of jeans. "You're soaking wet. Want to change clothes?"

Annabeth nodded and went in the direction Thalia pointed her until she found an empty room. Her clothes were ripped and covered with monster blood, so she didn't feel the slightest bit bad about throwing them away.

The jeans were a bit big, and the shirt had the words _Camp Half-Blood _written on it. Annabeth quickly changed and headed back for the main room.

Immediately, Percy and Thalia quit talking, as did the man who'd joined them. He was wearing a tweed jacket, and his dark hair was streaked heavily with gray. Annabeth didn't notice anything strange about him until he stepped out from behind the table and Annabeth saw that from the waist down he was a horse.

Somehow she was too tired to let it faze her.

"Annabelle Chase," he said flatly. "We've been expecting you for some time now. I trust Peter and Dalia have things under control."

He walked (or perhaps trotted) past her without saying anything else. Annabeth just shrugged it off and sat back down at the table, slowly sipping her pumpkin bread/hot chocolate/ambrosia.

"That's Chiron," Percy finally said. "Normally, Mr. D is the one who greets new campers, but…" he trailed off, giving Annabeth a glance that was almost accusatory – like she was the reason he was gone.

She supposed she probably was.

"So how much do you know?" Thalia asked.

"My neighbor turned into a spider and tried to kill me," Annabeth offered. "So did a Cyclops."

Thalia and Percy exchanged looks. "It's your turn," Percy said.

"Yeah, but I've got seniority. So I think you should do it."

Percy shook his head and turned back to Annabeth. "The Greek gods are real. One of them is your parent. You're a demigod." Before Annabeth could argue, he kept going. "I bet you have ADHD and dyslexia. That's because you've got battle reflexes built in, and your brain is hardwired for ancient Greek."

She stared at them blankly. "You're saying my dad is a god?"

"Yes."

Annabeth wanted to ask why someone who was a god couldn't find the time to write or call once in twelve years. What she said instead was, "Which one?"

"It could be Apollo, Hephaestus, Ares, Dionysus, or Hermes," Percy said. "Then again, you could be the child of a minor god, but-"

"Who are you parents?" Annabeth asked Thalia and Percy.

"Athena," Percy said. "Goddess of wisdom and strategy."

"Zeus," Thalia said with a shrug. "The lightning guy." Thunder boomed in the distance. "Sorry, the very strong, intelligent, handsome master of the universe." She rolled her eyes. "Gods."

"But Zeus wasn't on your list," Annabeth said, trying to keep everything straight.

"Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades are known as the Big Three. Their mortal children end up being too strong for their own good. After the second World War, they vowed to stop fathering children. Except, well, Zeus didn't exactly keep his promise," Percy explained. "So technically, your father could be one of them, but-"

"And it probably-"

Percy shot Thalia a look. "It's really not wise to speculate at times like this."

Thalia held up her hands in surrender. "No need to be so serious, Perce."

The look on Percy's face clearly showed that he felt the exact opposite. "We'd normally take you to the Hermes cabin – he's the god of travelers, so that's where you'll go till you're claimed – but it's late. Thalia can show you a bedroom here, and I'll show you around camp tomorrow."

Percy got up to leave, and Thalia beckoned Annabeth back. "Don't mind him," she said quietly, looking back at Percy. "He's a classic Athena kid – overthinks things, takes live way too seriously. He's not really that bad – I've known him since he was six."

"Why did you two have to stay up and wait for us?" Annabeth asked.

"We've been here the longest – six years each. I came here when I was ten, and I haven't gone home since. That's something you'll have to decide – whether you want to stay here year-round or just stay for the summer."

"My mom probably thinks I attacked the school's janitor," Annabeth said.

Thalia's smile wavered. "Right – you'll probably want to write to her and explain that. We don't have phones here. Monsters pick up off the signal. Anyway, here's your room. Percy will come get you in the morning," she said.

Annabeth was asleep before her head hit the pillow. Throughout the night, she kept having dreams of spiders and a woman with cold gray eyes. By the time she woke up, it felt like she'd hardly gotten any sleep at all.

With no indication of what time it was, Annabeth decided to walk back out into the main room. The only inhabitant was Chiron. He looked up at Annabeth for a few seconds before returning to his newspaper. "Girls attack their own janitor," he read. "Is this an effect of video game violence, or were these girls perhaps mentally disturbed? Both Annabeth Chase and-"

"He attacked us!" Annabeth interrupted.

"No need to get defensive. Here, read the comics and lighten up," he said, handing Annabeth a piece of the newspaper.

"What are you?" she asked.

Chiron sighed. "Just like you should never ask a woman her weight, you should never ask a creature what it calls itself." Annabeth rolled her eyes. "But if you really must know, I'm a centaur."

Somehow, a piece of information Annabeth had learned in Mr. D's class popped in her head. "You're not that Chiron, are you? The one who trained Achilles and Jason?"

"Of course I am. How many Chirons do you know?"

"But that would make you-"

"2,432 years old. I look remarkable, I know." Sarcasm dripped from his voice. "Training heroes was so last millennium." He muttered something that sounded like _blasted 5,000 year contract_.

"I'm sorry you feel that way," Annabeth said tentatively.

"Are you?"

"No, not really."

Percy walked in at that moment. "Morning, Chiron," he said.

Chiron ignored him.

"So you ready to see the camp?" he asked Annabeth. She nodded and followed him out the door.

Percy led her deeper into the woods, towards several cabins. As opposed to most camps she'd been to, there was nothing uniform about them. One looked like a small greenhouse, while another seemed be made of solid gold.

"The cabin you live in depends on who your godly parent is," Percy explained. "Until your dad claims you, you start out in the Hermes cabin." He pointed to a dilapidated cabin that looked like it desperately needed a paint job.

"How long will that be?" Annabeth asked.

Percy didn't meet her eyes when he answered. "I'll let Travis explain that to you. Anyway, not everyone here is a demigod. There are nymphs in the water, and the satyrs live out in the woods, but you'll see them occasionally."

"What's a-"

"Percy, wait up!" Annabeth and Percy both turned to see a boy about Thalia's age running towards them. Small horns poked out of his curly red hair, and he had the legs of a goat. Annabeth guessed she was just going to have to get used to the constant parade of unusual things.

"Annabeth, this is Grover," Percy said. Annabeth tried to remember where she'd heard the name before. "He's one of the best at finding half-bloods."

Noticing Annabeth's blank expression, Grover filled her in. "We can smell you, just like monsters can. Our job is to find you before they do." He flashed her a smile. Annabeth noticed that for being half goat, he still had amazing teeth.

"I got attacked by a Cyclops," Annabeth said stupidly.

"Yeah, well the important thing is you made it here in once piece," Grover said, his smile not wavering at all. "Gotta head out for a few days. Important satyr business. Tell Thalia I say hi, Perce," he said before heading off, waving to a girl outside the cabin that resembled a beauty parlor. Even from twenty feet away, Annabeth could see her blush.

"Grover was the one who brought me, Thalia, and Luke here," Percy said.

"Who's Luke?"

Percy pretended not to hear her. "Anyway, there's the dining pavilion, the training center, the bathrooms, and the fire pit. Travis will explain everything else to you," he said, pointing her in the direction of the Hermes cabin.

Annabeth was really starting to get sick of being passed from one person to another. Determined to finally get real answers, she headed for the Hermes cabin.

A blonde girl darted out from the beauty parlor cabin. "Hey, new girl!" she called out. Annabeth froze and waited for the girl to catch up to her.

"Silena Beauregard, daughter of Aphrodite," she said. Annabeth couldn't remember if Aphrodite was the goddess of plants or beauty, but judging by the girl in front of her, she was willing to bet beauty.

"Um, Annabeth Chase," Annabeth said. Next to Silena, Annabeth was acutely aware of the fact that she'd slept in her shirt and jeans last night, and there was probably drool on her face or something.

Silena gave her a small patronizing smile. "Nice to meet you, Annabeth. Now, on behalf of the Aphrodite cabin, I'm supposed to ask why Grover Underwood was talking to you, and what exactly he said."

"Seriously?" Annabeth tried not to laugh.

Silena shook her head eagerly.

"He just introduced himself. Nothing big."

Silena exhaled loudly. Annabeth swore she heard cheers from inside the cabin. "Since you're new, we're just going to give you a little FYI, Annabeth. Grover is the hottest guy here – a little girl like you really doesn't stand a chance. But my Aphrodite sisters also want me to let you know that we think you and Percy Jackson would be adorable together."

"Um, thanks," Annabeth said, her face red.

"Hermes cabin?" Silena asked, mock sympathy in her voice. "It's that ugly, I mean…well-worn cabin right over there," she said with a laugh, turning around and heading back to her cabin.

Annabeth had dealt with mean girls before – every school had them, after all. She knew it wasn't a good idea to go getting on Silena's bad side, but she couldn't help herself. "Silena," she called out. "You've got a little something right here," she said, gesturing to her forehead.

She laughed quietly to herself as Silena's brow furrowed while she felt her perfectly clear forehead for any signs of acne. When she arrived at the Hermes cabin, she swore she saw at least ten kids all trying to peek through the windows.

"Did you really just stand up to Silena?" one of the girls asked.

"Her cabin is always so mean to the new kids," another girl piped in. "Who did she say you'd make a good couple with?"

"Um, Percy Jackson," Annabeth said, nervous as nearly twenty kids all focused their attention on her. How did they all fit in one cabin?

Several people laughed. "Can you imagine Jackson actually getting his nose out of a book long enough to talk to a girl?" one of the guys said.

"Don't be mean," another girl said. "We all know he's got a hopeless crush on Thalia."

A kid who only looked a few years older than Annabeth hopped off one of the bunks. "C'mon guys, this isn't how we're supposed to greet new campers."

"Who died and made you Travis?" a sulky girl called out from her spot on the floor. "I liked things better when Luke was here."

The boy pretended not to hear her. "I'm Connor, Travis' younger brother. He's out right now helping the Demeter girls fix their roof," he said with an eye roll. "Um, welcome to the Hermes cabin for however long you'll be here."

"How long will that be?"

"Couple days, couple years, the rest of your life…Anyway, we're here to make you feel welcome for as long as you're here. You'll eat and train with us until you're claimed." Connor looked around the cramped cabin. "Um, you can have that spot on the floor. We'll grab you a sleeping bag and stuff," he said, gesturing to small square of space.

Annabeth hoped she'd be claimed soon.

_Notes – I hope you guys like this length of chapter. I could have made it longer, but then there would not be much to go in the next one. So what do you think of deadbeat Chiron and heartthrob Grover? And what do you think happened to Luke? Reviews are love. _


	5. Chapter Four

**Chapter Four  
****Claimed**

Annabeth had been at Camp Half-Blood for two weeks. She'd gotten used to the schedule – from waking up at the crack of dawn and eating breakfast with the Hermes cabin, then going through whatever training was planned for them, followed by lunch and a few hours of downtime before whatever camp activity was planned for the night.

Clarisse, who had received a clean bill of health a few days after returning to Camp Half-Blood, had told Annabeth to pay attention to what she was good at. It could be a clue as to who her godly parent was.

Well, Annabeth had learned on her first day of training that archery was not her strength. She'd almost impaled Travis, who'd been quick to tell her that no one but the Apollo kids started out great. Twenty minutes later, after still not hitting the target, Travis had run out of hollow encouragements.

Daughter of Apollo? Definitely not.

Sword fighting hadn't gone that much better. Thalia had offered to give her private lessons, and Annabeth had immediately jumped on the offer. Anything to avoid embarrassing herself in front of the entire Hermes cabins.

"Luke used to train all the new campers," Thalia said absently as she looked through the camp's armory. "Percy was his little prodigy."

Annabeth didn't say anything in the hope that Thalia would go on and say something about the enigmatic Luke she kept hearing about. However, the older girl seemed lost in thought as she dug through a bin of old swords.

"Thalia?" Annabeth prodded. "Who's Luke?"

Thalia shot her a glare that gave a whole new meaning to the saying _if looks could kill. _"It doesn't matter," she said bluntly, tossing Annabeth a rusted sword. "He's dead now."

Annabeth wasn't sure how to respond to that.

The conversation had put Thalia in a bad mood, and Annabeth had a feeling she wasn't the most patient teacher to begin with. Though sword fighting went slightly better than archery, Annabeth couldn't get over her awkwardness with the unbalanced blade.

Thalia kept telling her to let the sword be an extension of her arm and keep her movements flowing. Annabeth didn't see how that was possible.

She'd been a failure at archery and sword fighting, and none of the other activities had gone much better. Okay, she'd been good at canoeing, but what did that really count for?

To make things worse, the weather seemed to mirror Annabeth's bad mood. Not once in the last two weeks had the sky cleared, and distant thunder had become constant background noise. A few days ago, it had even started raining.

This had the senior campers worried, but Annabeth had no idea why a bit of rain was something to get so worked up over.

When she'd asked Travis, his carefree demeanor had wavered for a second. "It's not that big of a deal," he'd tried to assure her. "It's just that we're supposed to have this bubble over Camp Half-Blood – weather shouldn't affect us."

When Annabeth tried to ask why it wasn't working, Travis had pretended not to hear her and ran after some Demeter girl.

On her 15th day at Camp Half-Blood, Annabeth woke up to pouring rain and winds strong enough to literally shake the Hermes cabin. She sprinted to the bathrooms, finding no need to take a shower once she got there.

She propped up the bag of toiletries one of the Stoll brothers had snagged for her – _stolen_ had been his exact wording, but Annabeth hoped he was only joking – and began brushing her teeth. Today the Hermes cabin had been scheduled to help the satyrs in the strawberry patches. Annabeth hoped that the weather called for a change of plans.

Annabeth had her teeth brushed and face washed, and she'd nearly managed to dry off when Silena walked in, perfectly dry under the cover of her bright pink umbrella. She was carrying a tote bag nearly three times the size of Annabeth's – Annabeth was willing to bet it contained enough makeup to stock an entire _Younker's_ department.

Over the last few weeks, Silena had done nothing to disguise her dislike for Annabeth. And it was obvious that Silena set the standard for the rest of her cabin, since none of the Aphrodite children had talked to Annabeth since her arrival, but were quick to giggle and point once they thought she was out of earshot.

"Enjoying the weather, Annabeth?" Silena asked, her voice too saccharine to be genuine, as she propped her large cosmetics bag up next to a sink. "The humidity is doing terrible things to your hair. I have just the thing-"

"Thanks, but I'm fine with how my hair looks," Annabeth said curtly, though she couldn't resist glancing in the mirror. So what if her hair was a bit bushy? No one looked good after running through a storm without an umbrella.

Silena seemed to take Annabeth's lack of concern very personally. "Just trying to help. The gods know you need it," she muttered under her breath as she began applying eyeliner.

Annabeth wasn't sure what happened next. One second she was thinking about how angry Silena made her, and the next the sink in front of Silena had turned on and the flow of water had directed itself right at the pretty girl's face.

"Oh. My. Gods," Silena said slowly, the volume of her voice growing with each word as she pushed her soaking wet bangs out of her face. Makeup was running down her face. "You are by far the worst person I have ever met, Annabeth Chase," she shrieked.

"But I…I didn't…do anything," Annabeth tried, the words seeming weak even to her.

"You want to mess with the Aphrodite cabin? Go ahead. It will be the last thing you ever do," Silena hissed, grabbing her bag and umbrella and storming out of the bathrooms.

Only then did Annabeth realize that despite the small waterfall produced by the sink, she hadn't got the slightest bit wet.

Annabeth found herself distracted for the rest of the day. Since activities had been cancelled due to the weather conditions – for the first time ever, some of the older campers told her with worry – Annabeth had a rare moment to spend with her best friend.

Clarisse had been able to tell something was on Annabeth's mind, but she hadn't been able to find the right words to ask what was going on. Apparently linguistics was not a strong suit for children of Ares.

"Do you like it here?" Clarisse finally asked.

"I'd like it better if my dad would claim me," Annabeth said, watching Thalia storm across the grounds. Percy was following her closely, looking like he was trying desperately to catch up to her.

"What do you think of Jackson?" Clarisse asked, following Annabeth's gaze.

"I don't know. He seems…serious," Annabeth decided.

Clarisse snorted. "Serious? Understatement of the year."

When Annabeth returned to the Hermes cabin, she found a newspaper opened up on her sleeping bag. _Troubled teens involved in a vicious attack on school faculty still at large, _read the headline that someone had underlined. Annabeth tore the paper to shreds without reading the rest of the article.

At dinner that night, Annabeth had been the recipient of angry glares from all the Aphrodite kids. "What'd you do to make Silena mad now?" one of the Stoll brothers asked. "Tell her orange wasn't a good color on her?"

"She just hates me," Annabeth muttered, wishing she could just tear into her food without first having to present a sacrifice to the gods.

"At least you know Aphrodite can't be your mom," the other Stoll brother said. Annabeth figured that was supposed to be comforting, but it was just a reminder that her godly parent still hadn't claimed her.

That night, Annabeth found herself tossing and turning, unable to get more than a few moments of sleep. The rainfall had long since ceased, so she decided to go for a walk to clear her mind.

Annabeth found herself drawn to the lake. She didn't know why, but something about the water calmed her down. She figured she could sit on one of the cliffs for a while and watch the water, and hopefully she'd be able to fall asleep once she got back to her cabin.

Apparently she wasn't the only one with that idea.

"Couldn't sleep?" Thalia asked. Annabeth hadn't seen her sitting on the ground until she'd been right on top of her. "It's okay, I'm not going to report you for being out past curfew or something stupid."

Hesitantly, Annabeth sat down next to the older girl. "Thalia, can I ask you something?" she asked.

"Sure."

"How long did it take for you to get claimed?"

Thalia exhaled loudly. "Well…my dad didn't have much of a choice when I called down all this lightning to save Percy and Luke. It was kind of obvious at that point, as much as he would have liked to hide his mistake."

Annabeth wasn't sure, but she thought Thalia sounded slightly bitter. "Save Percy and Luke?" she prompted.

"Yeah, we traveled here together. I found Luke, we found Percy, and then Grover found the three of us. He was supposed to get us here safely, and he almost did. We got attacked at the camp's border, and it looked like we weren't going to make it, until I summoned all this crazy lightning shit, and…here we are," Thalia finished.

Both girls sat there in silence for a while. Annabeth was bursting with questions, but she didn't want to pry, especially when Thalia seemed so guarded about the whole thing.

"Look, I'm sorry I told you Luke's dead," Thalia blurted out. "He's not – I mean, he just went on a quest and hasn't come back yet."

"A quest?" Annabeth asked, feeling stupid.

"Quests are like, challenges the gods give their children – a chance to prove themselves. Luke was given one three years ago to this day. He was…I mean is a son of Hermes. Everyone loved him when he was here. He was like a big brother to Percy, and he was my…" Thalia trailed off, her voice flat.

"Don't people notice when someone goes missing for three whole years?" Annabeth asked.

"Well, I guess we notice, but I don't think Luke's mom realizes he's left yet...Some of us never go home, you know. Percy hasn't gone home once – can't stand his step-mom. Other people don't have homes to go back to."

From her tone of voice, Annabeth guessed that Thalia belonged in the latter category. "So I don't have to go home if I don't want to?" Annabeth asked.

Thalia fixed Annabeth with a long look. "You haven't explained things to your mom yet, have you?"

Annabeth shook her head. During the first week at camp, she'd been too busy trying to adjust. Once she'd gotten the routine down, she'd kept finding reasons to put it off. How did you even start a letter like that? _Dear Mom, I know you think I tried to kill a janitor, but the truth is…_

"Things get harder the longer you wait," Thalia said, seeming to read Annabeth's mind.

Annabeth thought about her dad, who hadn't claimed her after twelve years. "Maybe the gods should learn that," she said.

Thunder rolled in the distance, sounding much more distinct than that which was produced by the frequent small storms. "Look, Annabeth. I know it's a load of bullshit, but you've got to respect the gods."

Another clap of thunder sounded.

Thalia sighed. "I mean the gods are wonderful beings worthy of our love and praise." Despite the way her voice dripped with sarcasm, apparently the gods were satisfied with her choice of words. "Your dad will claim you."

Annabeth wasn't sure she believed Thalia. Some of the girls in the Hermes cabin told Annabeth they'd been going to Camp Half-Blood for years and hadn't been claimed yet.

She looked out at the water, and a strange urge overcame her. An urge to…_jump_.

"Annabeth, no!" Thalia shouted, but it was too late. Annabeth was soaring through the air, the surface of the water getting closer and closer.

When she hit the water, everything disappeared in a burst of white light. Annabeth couldn't see or feel anything.

"Don't panic," a voice said. Annabeth jerked around, trying to find where the voice was coming from. There was nothing – nothing but endless light.

"I don't have much time, child. You have to listen closely. Tell my nephew that I'm sending you on a quest to clear my name. He'll understand, and he'll explain the rest."

"Who are you?" Annabeth asked.

"Make me proud, daughter," the voice said, echoing in Annabeth's head.

Annabeth gasped and sat up with a start. Her head was pounding, and the stranger's voice continued to echo in her head. She was on the beach, Thalia and a soaking wet Percy standing over her. "Thank the Gods," Thalia muttered under her breath.

"Are you alright?" Percy asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I heard this voice. He said…" Annabeth trailed off, suddenly conscious of the way Percy and Thalia were staring at her – well, not her. They were both fixated on something right above her head. "Hey, what's wrong?" she asked.

"Told you she's a daughter of Poseidon," Thalia said to Percy. "That'll be twenty bucks."

Thunder rumbled in the distance.

_Author's Notes: A terrible place to end it, but oh well. This chapter was death to write. Not to bitch and moan, but when I was doing daily updates and being asked to update faster, it kind of killed my inspiration. This chapter felt awfully forced as I was writing it, so I'm sorry. Reviews are love. _


	6. Chapter Five

**Chapter Five**

**The Quest**

Despite her protests, Percy and Thalia wouldn't answer any of Annabeth's questions until she was in the Big House, wrapped in a blanket with a cup of ambrosia in her hand.

The blanket really was unnecessary – Annabeth was completely dry. And she was pretty sure the ambrosia was just as unneeded, but Percy and Thalia had insisted she drink it. "Okay, can you explain what just happened?" Annabeth demanded.

"Your father claimed you," Percy said simply.

"Yeah, I figured that out, but is it always this big of a deal?"

Percy and Thalia exchanged glances. "It's still your turn to explain," Percy said.

Thalia rolled her eyes and turned back to Annabeth. "So you've noticed tensions are high right now," she said. "Well, it's because Zeus and Poseidon are mad at each other, and when major gods get upset, everyone else tends to take sides."

"Why are Zeus and Poseidon mad at each other?"

"Poseidon thinks Zeus stole his trident, and Zeus is deeply offended by the accusation. Now it's become-"

"Wait, all this is over a trident?"

"It's not just a trident, it's Poseidon's item of power. Someone managed to steal it," Percy said flatly. "But-"

"Are you going to let me explain to her or not?" Thalia interrupted, shooting Percy a glare. "Anyway, this argument has been going on for a while. Both brothers have been trying to prove their superiority, since neither will back down and apologize. Then somehow, Zeus found out about you, and he sent those monsters after you."

"To force me to come here," Annabeth said.

Thalia nodded. "Breaking his oath not to have children cast Poseidon in an unfavorable light in some of the gods' eyes."

"But Zeus had you!" Annabeth protested.

Thunder rumbled, sounding dangerously close. "I know it doesn't seem fair, but most of the gods have gotten over the fact that Zeus broke his vow. And some think that Poseidon should have come forward about you when Zeus claimed me."

"He probably thought he could have kept you hidden your entire life," Percy said, sounding slightly bitter.

Thalia didn't seem to mind that Percy had interrupted again. "Whatever the reason, your dad didn't want you to come here yet, but Zeus forced his hand. Now it's up to you to find Poseidon's trident and clear my father's name."

"Clear your father's name? Shouldn't that be your job?" Annabeth protested.

"If Zeus sent me on a quest, that would mean he's admitting to taking Poseidon's accusation seriously," Thalia said. "It's a stupid pride thing."

"I have to go on a quest to find Poseidon's trident and prove that Zeus innocent," Annabeth said slowly. "And how do you know Zeus didn't really steal it?"

"Gods can't directly steal other gods' items of power – they'd have to have a demigod do it. And Thalia didn't steal Poseidon's trident – unless you don't trust Thalia?" Percy asked, glaring at Annabeth.

"Annabeth, I swear I didn't steal it," Thalia said. "I know this should be my quest, but the gods don't agree." She glanced at Percy. "Why don't you go get Mr. D and explain what's going on?"

"But-"

"Percy."

Without another word, Percy stormed out of the room. A few seconds later, Annabeth heard him storming up the stairs.

"Okay, look. We don't have a lot of time, so just listen. You have until the summer solstice to get to Poseidon's trident back to him – that's one week. Before you leave, the oracle will give you a prophecy, and then you'll choose who to bring with you," Thalia said. "Any two people here."

"I'll take you and-" Annabeth started to say.

"I can't go, remember? My dad would kill us. Look, do you remember what I told you about Luke?"

Annabeth nodded. She had a feeling she wasn't going to like where this was going.

"Mr. D hasn't allowed anyone to go on a quest since Luke. He says it's too risky unless there's a real reason for it. Of course he'll have to let you go, but…Percy really wanted to go with Luke when he left, but Luke wouldn't let him go – said it was too dangerous to bring him along."

By that point, Annabeth was nearly certain what was coming, but she couldn't think of any way to get out of it.

"Percy's not like other Athena kids, you know. He's not content to sit around here reading books and making strategies for capture the flag. Ever since Luke left, he's wanted nothing more than a chance to get out of here and prove himself, so it would mean a lot to me if you would-"

At that moment, Mr. D and Percy entered the room, as well as Grover. Annabeth was pretty sure she was never going to get over the sight of her former history teacher in Hawaiian pajamas.

"Finally claimed, I take it?" Mr. D said, a hint of irritation in his voice. "And this couldn't have waited till morning because…?"

It clicked in Annabeth's head that Mr. D was Dionysus, son of Zeus, which made him her _cousin_. "Poseidon told me to tell you he's sending me on a quest to clear his name."

At that moment, Annabeth head the clip clopping of hooves down the hallway. A few seconds later, Chiron emerged from the hallway.

As disturbing as it was to see Mr. D in Hawaiian pajamas, it paled in comparison to the sight of Chiron in hair curlers.

"What's all this racket about?" Chiron demanded. "Do you realize what time it is?"

"Poseidon finally claimed Annabeth. He's sending her on a quest to find his trident," Mr. D said. Apparently he understood that that was what Poseidon had meant by clearing his name.

"Well send her to the oracle. Have her pick the people she's going with," Chiron said, already turning around and heading back to what Annabeth assumed was his bedroom. "And do it quietly!" he called over his shoulder.

"I'll take her to the oracle," Percy said quietly.

Annabeth followed Percy up the stairs, thinking about what Thalia had told her. She honestly hadn't gotten to know many people at Camp Half-Blood besides Clarisse, so it wasn't as if she had another friend to bring with.

Still, something about Percy just rubbed her the wrong way. As much as she didn't want to disappoint Thalia, she really didn't want to bring the son of Athena with her.

"Here it is," Percy said, gesturing to an old ladder that lead to the attic. "This is as far as I can go. I'll wait for you here."

"What's the oracle like? I mean is-"

"Just go. Every second you waste here is a second you could spend finding Poseidon's trident," Percy insisted, his green eyes boring into Annabeth. "You don't have a lot of time."

"Geez, okay," Annabeth said, brushing past him and climbing up the stairs. They creaked and groaned under her weight – she had a feeling no one had gone to see the oracle in quite some time.

Only a few rays of light penetrated through the lone dusty window, but Annabeth couldn't find a light switch anywhere. "Hello?" she called out, wondering if someone really lived in the attic. All she could see were endless boxes of stuff.

A hissing noise echoed through the room. Annabeth looked around, trying to figure out where it was coming from, but a strange green mist seemed to be coming from everywhere…It was getting darker…There was a pair of glowing green eyes…

A mummy in a tie-dye dress was standing in front of Annabeth. She let out a breath in Annabeth's face, bombarding her with a thick cloud of green smoke.

Annabeth coughed, waving her hand to clear the smoke. When she could finally see, she wasn't in the attic anymore. She was back home, sitting around the table with her family. Her mom, step-dad, and two brothers all had blank stares on their faces.

"Guys, umm…what's going on?" Annabeth asked.

No one gave any indication of having heard her.

Suddenly, her mom jerked her head towards her. "You shall go west, fighting blindly for pride that's not yours. And if in your task you should fail, so will begin a war to end all wars," she said in a raspy voice. Bits of green smoke slipped from her mouth as she talked.

"Those closest to you are the ones you choose to trust least. But the real threat lies further to the east," her step-dad continued, talking in the same raspy voice.

"So chase the west, young hero. Not all who leave will return," one of her brothers added.

The seconds before the next line seemed to stretch into an eternity. Finally, her youngest brother said, "Some sacrifices are worth the price, you're going to have to learn."

The scene faded, leaving Annabeth feeling incredibly disorientated back in the attic. The mummy and green mist were gone. It was as if nothing had happened. Frantically, Annabeth looked around for a piece of paper so she could write down what she'd just heard.

"_You shall go west, fighting blindly for pride that's not yours_," Annabeth said as she opened a box that contained what seemed to be hairbrushes, except some were glowing a strange radioactive green color. At least that bit of the prophecy seemed straightforward.

"_And if in your task you should fail, so will begin a war to end all wars," _she recited as she opened the next box, only to find an assortment of scarves. Well, even if it wasn't exactly comforting, it was easy enough to interpret.

The next parts were what concerned her – the real threat lying further east? And not everyone who went with her would return...Suddenly, she was feeling a lot less confident about this quest.

Giving up on finding something to write the prophecy on, Annabeth crawled down the stairs, where Percy was waiting for her.

"What did the oracle say?" he said eagerly.

"I'll tell you later – tight schedule and all, you know," Annabeth said, throwing Percy's words back in his face, something the son of Athena didn't seem to like.

"Who are you bringing with you?" Percy asked as they headed back down to the main room.

"You and Clarisse," Annabeth muttered, deciding that that was what the prophecy had to mean. _Those closest to you and the ones you choose to trust least. _

"Really?" Percy asked.

"Yeah. Got any idea where we should go?"

"Well think about it. Who would want Zeus and Poseidon mad at each other?"

"Someone who's crazy?"

Annabeth was pretty sure Percy rolled his eyes at her, but she didn't care. There'd be plenty of time to hear his theories once she had Clarisse and they were on the road.

It seemed Thalia had guessed who Annabeth would want to bring on her quest. Clarisse was already waiting for them, holding a backpack stuffed with supplies and holding a very sharp spear. "So we're going on a quest, huh?" she asked, an eager glint in her eye.

"Yeah, and the sooner we leave the better," Annabeth said.

"Hold up," Grover said. Annabeth had almost forgotten he was there. "You can't go on a quest without supplies," he said, handing her a backpack. "I tried to pack everything I thought you'd need." He flashed her a smile.

Annabeth blushed. "Thanks," she murmured, slinging the backpack over her shoulders.

"You've got your weapon? I packed a bag for you," Thalia said, handing a duffel bag to Percy.

"Before you leave," Mr D. started, "Chiron told me to give you this." He handed Annabeth a plain pen. "I'm sure it's got some significance – Chiron just didn't think it necessary to explain."

Annabeth didn't doubt that Chiron would give her a crappy old pen. He'd probably get a kick out of her trying to figure out what its special powers were. Either way, it seemed rude to just throw it away. She pocketed it reluctantly.

Quick goodbyes were exchanged, and Grove and Thalia wished them luck. Thalia looked extremely worried as she hugged Percy goodbye – Annabeth remembered what'd happened to her last friend who went on a quest.

They made their way for the camp's border, not moving too quickly. It seemed like the reality had hit all of them – they were going on a quest, and if they failed, the gods would launch a war on each other.

"Thalia explained everything to me," Clarisse said. "So where are we headed?" She looked to Annabeth for advice.

"Well, umm…"

"Hades," Percy said.

"How do you figure?" Clarisse demanded.

"Well, who hates Poseidon and Zeus? Ever since he got stuck with the Underworld, he's resented his two brothers. And there's another thing – he's the god of the dead. A war would mean a lot of people dying, which would make his domain grow even larger."

It made sense – Annabeth only wondered how Percy had been able to put it together. "Okay, so we go and confront Hades."

"Yeah. Ready for a trip to Los Angeles?"

Percy grinned at Annabeth as they crossed the border.

_Notes: This has to be the worst chapter I've written so far. Hopefully, future chapters will come faster. But I swear if one more person reviews telling me to update faster, I will send my hellhound after them. _


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